


Blackout

by Geek_and_Nina



Series: Hope Mikaelson Yuletide Event [5]
Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Prompt Fill, Psychological Torture, hope mikaelson yuletide event 2019, the hizzie is only if you squint, towards the end of season 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:15:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21947158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geek_and_Nina/pseuds/Geek_and_Nina
Summary: The Prompt: Hey! So I haven’t been able to watch season 2 of legacies yet so if it could not include any spoilers that’d be lovely. So I’m thinking like Hope Josie and Lizzie get captured by that guy who shot Josie and he keeps them and tortures them and they stay in the same cell but sometimes one or two are taken and they return later w signs of torture etc. love interest can be whichever (obvs except Lizzie w Josie lol)I took a couple of liberties with this idea. I hope you like it!
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson/Lizzie Saltzman
Series: Hope Mikaelson Yuletide Event [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1576465
Comments: 3
Kudos: 101





	Blackout

**Author's Note:**

  * For [@bechloepitchess](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=%40bechloepitchess).



Hope’s head ached as though she had taken a knockout blow. She easily recognized the after-effects of one of her favorite spells. She lay still for a while, attempting to regain her bearings and a sense of her surroundings without revealing her renewed consciousness. Hope could feel cold, damp earth beneath her and she could hear others breathing nearby. Tension bloomed inside of her chest as she identified the smells of her favorite twins captured alongside her.

“Are you okay, Hope? Lizzie and I have been awake for a while. Did whatever they did to us affect you differently?” Josie asked, shaking Hope’s shoulder gently in an attempt to get her to stir. She pulled the small tribrid’s head up into her lap and began to anxiously brush the blood-encrusted hair out of her face.

Hope liked where she was. Even though she was awake now, Josie had moved her to her lap and Hope wanted to stay there forever. She could feel the blood rush to her face in a blush. She knew this couldn’t last for much longer, but it was nice while it did.

She groaned as the light hit her eyes and aggravated the migraine throbbing in the very crown of her head. “Jo?” Hope asked as she slowly sat back against the other girl’s shoulder. “Lizzie? Where are we? What’s going on?”

Hope wasn’t sure how much strength she had left, but she was willing to do her best if her friends were in any kind of danger.

Lizzie reached out and squeezed Hope’s hand tightly. She only gave in to her soft side for a moment; fear in her eyes, but confidence as well. “It’s Triad. When Josie was shot, I fainted because of twinliness. When I came to, you were still fighting, barely on your feet, but you hadn’t let anyone get close to us. Not one step past you.”

“Josie! Josie… are you okay?!” Hope whirled around and tugged at the other girl’s collar unthinkingly to reveal a rancid puncture wound, the black lines tracing up her veins, growing dangerously close to her heart. “Oh, fuck, that’s bad… why were you guys worrying about me? There’s one go-to cure-all for magical ailments in our world, you know that.”

Hope didn’t wait for an answer, and even though she didn’t have her own set of fangs, she had seen her father use the same trick multiple times. “Avert your eyes, ladies.” Hope tugged her sleeve down and sank her teeth into her wrist until a suitable amount of blood was drawn. “Okay, that could have been worse, I guess. Here, Josie, drink.”

“You’re serious... okay, oh my God.” Lizzie sounded nauseous as her sister took Hope’s arm in her hands. Josie met Hope’s eyes hesitantly as though there were more meaning to the action than either of them realized. There was suddenly a soft pair of lips against Hope’s skin and a slight pull from her core. She didn’t hear the sound of Lizzie gagging in the background, she was so absorbed in observing Josie’s face.

Her eyes were closed almost blissfully and with the force Hope could feel the blood being pulled from her veins, she was certain there would be bruising around the injury afterward. Hope couldn’t tell if Josie was going to be able to stop on her own she was so immersed. Lizzie pulled at Josie’s shirt again to reveal the black lines receding and the wounds slowly healing. Josie’s hands began to glow red and Hope could have sworn her lips did as well. Once the wound had completely healed, Lizzie leaned forward and began attempting to peel her sister off of Hope.

“Josie… Josie, you have to stop, that’s enough.” she tugged and pulled but the brunette twin wasn’t budging. “ _Motus_.”

Lizzie laid a hand on Hope’s knee, siphoned the magic successfully, and still, the spell didn’t work. “I knew I should have started working out with you and dad when you invited me.” Lizzie hauled back and punched her sister in the face for the first time since they were eight years old.

Josie fell back to the wall with blood still dribbling from the corners of her mouth. Hope was light-headed as Lizzie ripped a strip off of Josie’s shirt to tie around Hope’s torn open wrist. “Why do I always have to do everything myself?” she tied it tightly and propped a very dizzy Hope Mikaelson up across the cell from her sister. Just in case Josie wanted some more.

“Did it work out? Is Josie okay?” Hope asked, clearly exhausted as Lizzie nodded in the affirmative and cleaned up her sister’s face with the end of her sleeve. She tried to force herself into a more solid seating position and found herself still drenched with sweat. Hope hadn’t felt like this since the first time she activated her werewolf side.

“I’m fine, Hope. That worked perfectly. I just… I couldn’t stop. Your magic was so powerful I couldn’t… I wanted to quit drinking, I promise. I’m uh... I could have hurt you, Hope. I’m so sorry.” Josie looked as though she might be on the verge of a panic attack.

“No, no, I’m fine, Josie. I’m a little tired, but I bounce back fast.” Hope shrugged and used the bars to pull herself up to stand. She braced her feet and yanked as hard as she could on them. Gravel and stone fell from the ceiling with each pull. Dizziness overcame her once more and both Saltzman girls rushed to support her.

“What the _fuck_ is going on down here?” yelled Burr, his face burning with rage. “Oh, yay. The monsters are awake.” He scoffed and jabbed Hope’s hand with his cattle prod.

Hope fell backward, half-stumbling into Josie’s arms again. She wanted to fight back, desperately, but she still felt so weak. No clever comments were springing to mind. Lizzie met her eyes and swallowed hard. “We’ll show you monsters if you come even a step closer.” her voice was a sturdy growl despite the fear apparent on her face.

“Nice try. Now, which of you are coming with me first?” Burr held out a set of anti-magic shackles gesturing for them to choose amongst themselves. Hope set a hand solidly on each of the twins’ shoulders and forced herself to stand. The three steps between herself and Burr seemed like ten miles.

“No way in hell.” Lizzie pushed Hope back into Josie’s arms and stepped up, offering her wrists with a smirk. “My turn for the annoyingly perfect heroics.”

Josie’s arms locked tightly around Hope’s middle, only just preventing her from wrestling out of her hold to stop Lizzie.

“Good work, Jo. Make sure she rests up. I’ll see you in a bit.” Lizzie promised with an attempt at a smile. Hope stopped struggling and whimpered; swearing to herself they wouldn’t get Josie as well. Not as long as she could stand against Triad.

She watched as Lizzie left their line of sight, a forced brave smile on her face for as long as they could see her. Hope turned in her face for as long as they could see her. Hope turned in Josie’s arms once she turned the corner, hugging her tightly. The taller witch buried her face in Hope’s shoulder, even while she was actively holding her up.

“She’ll be okay, Josie. Lizzie is strong, smart, and capable. Even a little bit mean sometimes. I would be more worried about Burr. Do you think his first name is Aaron?” Hope began guiding them to sit back against the wall once more.

Josie laughed dully, leaning to nestle Hope in more closely to her side. Slowly but surely, Hope felt her strength returning to her as she attempted to comfort Josie the best she was able to. Every now and then she felt Josie tense in pain, feeling some measure of what Lizzie felt through their twin bond.

\-----/////-----

Lizzie had been anticipating something much worse than being offered a shower with some amazing water pressure; a white, scrub-like uniform, and being led into a room reminiscent of one of the spas she had visited with her mother in Europe. If it weren’t for the hand-cuffs, Lizzie might have forgotten she was probably about to be tortured. Burr prodded Lizzie towards the hospital bed, uncuffed her, and forced her arms and legs into the velcro straps. “I don’t know what weird kind of pedophilic kink this is, but I want to die knowing I told you what an incredibly sick bastard you are… and that you have no idea what war you have started by taking us.” Lizzie smirked and laid back, submitting to her fate.

“Oh, you probably won’t die. You are going to want to, but you won’t.” Burr chuckled darkly. “You’re here to help us test our new toys.”

Burr backed away before Lizzie could get the last word in. As soon as he left, she found herself inundated by scientists, doctors, and lab technicians. There was suddenly a needle in her arm, nodes attached to her head, and no matter how much she struggled, Lizzie couldn’t move.

Lizzie breathed deeply and closed her eyes, bracing for whatever was coming next. Images flickered through her mind; Josie and her mother’s face, Alaric and Hope, MG and the Super Squad. A metal band clasped around Lizzie’s eyes, uncomfortably tight around her temples, leaving her feeling suffocated and claustrophobic. Every muscle in her thin body strained and fought against her bonds. She was Elizabeth Saltzman, daughter of Alaric Saltzman… Josette Laughlin… Caroline Forbes, and the granddaughter of Sheriff Liz Forbes. There was no way she would ever go down without a fight.

A strange haze overtook her consciousness, lulling her back to her time with her mother in Europe. Spending time with Caroline was always an adventure, especially now that she and Lizzie physically appeared to be the same age. She found herself relaxing into whatever was happening, the darkness quickly taking over completely.

Lizzie found herself alone in their hotel room, unsure of where her mother was, or why she was there at all. All Lizzie knew was that she had a migraine from hell and that she didn’t know what was going on. DIstantly, she could tell something was very wrong and she needed to _fight_. Despite the haze around her mind and the pain clogging everything else, Lizzie forced herself up and onto her feet, grabbing her phone to call Caroline.

“Hey, Mom, where are you? I’m at the hotel, I just woke up. There’s no note or anything.” Lizzie stepped out onto the balcony and sat down to admire the view as she spoke to her mother.

“I’ll be back soon. Just hang tight.” Caroline’s voice was much colder than Lizzie had ever heard before. It hit her in the chest like a fist to the solar plexus. She knew inherently that the tone of the voice was her fault in some way.

“Mom, Mommy, I think I had an episode. What’s wrong? What did I do? How did I get here?” Lizzie asked, desperation tinging her words now. She headed back inside, anxiously pacing the floor, terror flooding her like ice in her veins

“I will be back soon, Lizzie. Just sit still and wait for me. I’ll tell you everything once I am there with you. Just wait for me.” Caroline replied, pain accompanying the chill.

“Oh, okay. Uhm, later then.” Lizzie hung up and immediately called Josie, only to be sent immediately to voicemail. “Hey, Josie. It’s me, I was just wondering if you knew what was going on, I think I’ve had an episode. Please call me back as soon as you can.”

Lizzie called the number twice more before losing her temper and angrily throwing her phone across the room. She felt as though she were going to buzz out of her skin. Her breaths began to come more quickly and Lizzie could feel her heart beginning to pound faster. She felt as though everyone she knew was mad at her and she had no idea of why. Thoughts and ideas of what could have happened swirled around in her mind, only making things worse.

Lizzie went to retrieve her phone after her mild temper tantrum and did the unthinkable. She called Hope Andrea Mikaelson. The tiny little warrior woman answered on the second ring. Lizzie wasn’t sure of how to feel about that. She was even more confused by the sound of her father’s voice on the other end of the line. Lizzie almost choked on her hello.

“I need you to quit calling, Elizabeth. You know what you did to Hope… and others… so I don’t understand what you think you’re getting out of this. Stop. Calling.” Alaric hung up without letting Lizzie get a word in edgewise. She fell back against the bed with a desperate gasp and pulled her knees up to her chest.

No matter how long she waited, Caroline never came for her.

\-----/////-----

Lizzie came back looking exhausted, half-dead, and… completely broken inside. Her eyes were dark and emotionless. Burr shoved her into the cell with the other two and Hope had to use a burst of wolf speed to catch her before she hit the ground. “H-Hope? You’re alright?!” Thin arms wrapped around her neck and hugged tightly with what little strength she had left.

“Yeah, but it’s only because of you.” Hope hugged her back and edged them towards Josie. “What happened to you? Your eyes are black like you were punched in the face. Did they hurt you?”

“There was a device. I don’t know if it made me see things that weren’t true or if it was a glimpse of the future or something else. The thing that clamped around my eyes, did this to me. I would rather they have beaten me than to see what I saw.” Lizzie spoke softly, her voice hoarse as though she had spent a long time screaming. Josie could feel her heart-shattering in her chest.

Lizzi curled more tightly into Hope’s safe embrace, then pulled Josie in as well. “I thought I’d killed you, Josie. I don’t know what I… if I had… I would have…” she turned to cry into Josie’s shoulder, though she didn’t pull completely away from Hope.

Hope was not used to physical affection, especially since her family had gone their separate ways. This was doable, though. All she wanted was to be there for her friends. This she could do. Hope knew she had already lived through her worst fears. They held no sway over her now.

“I’m going to go next.” Hope decided. “I’m stronger now; I heal faster than you would. Lizzie needs you more than she needs me. My fears… they’ve got nothing on my real life. My history… it’s not like it can get any worse for me.”

“It can always get worse, Hope. They won’t use what has _already_ happened against you. They use all of your possibilities. Your darkest, worst thoughts from the middle of the night. For you, Hope. I couldn’t imagine what they could find in your head with all you have seen and been through.” Josie shook her head. “There’s no way I am going to let you go through that. I don’t ever want to find the line of where too much for you is. You don’t deserve that.”

Josie kissed her sister’s forehead, as gentle and sweet as their Josie always was. Hope was when Josie leaned in to give her the same treatment. She may have even lingered a bit longer than after kissing Lizzie’s brow. Josie didn’t understand how she knew the effect that had been cast over Lizzie’s mind, just that the information had come to her after meeting Lizzie’s horrified eyes.

“I have to disagree, I’m afraid. Let me do this for you, Josie. I don’t ever want to see either of you hurt. Let it be me instead. This is what I want.” Hope insisted. “You’re a witch. Your human body can’t take as much as whatever I am can. You have my _blood_ in your system. If you were to die you would come back as a heretic. Do I need to explain the multiple ways in which that would be _terrible_ for you?” Hope’s voice dropped to a livid hiss.

“No, but I am no accepting any protests at this time. You can relive your trauma on your own if you want to. Sacrificing yourself is a terrible Mikaelson habit you need to grow out of. It’s my turn… or my day for it.” Josie rubbed at the place where her bullet wound had once been. “If I become a heretic… that would cancel out the Merge issue, wouldn’t it? No biggie. We can handle this, whatever might come out of it.”

Hope pulled Josie near her. She had lost too much and seen too many people hurt working on her behalf. It sent her right back to her childhood to her family sacrificing and fighting on her behalf and her protection. Those battles had ended with the deaths of her father and Uncle Elijah. Hope would die before she saw the same fate befall the Saltzman twins.

“If anything were to happen to you. Anything at all, I can’t guarantee my reaction afterward. You have only had a taste of the power in my veins and I can see you craving it even now. If you are going to do this… do _not_ die. I don’t think you would make a very functional vampire.” Hope tried to lighten the mood as Lizzie attempted to stand using a hand on Hope’s shoulder to support herself. The blonde took one step on her own and hugged her sister tightly some her strength returning.

“Everything she said is true. Now, take a good look at both of us and remember what we look like right now, because anything else that you see is probably a lie. It is going to be _weird_ and terrible.” Lizzie gripped tightly onto Josie’s shoulders to squeeze and to maintain her current standing position.

Boots echoed down the hall and Hope gathered that Burr was on his way back to force one of them to go back with him. Hope moved to help Lizzie back down to a seated position. She turned back to Josie hurriedly, her blue eyes dark and searching. “You don’t have to do this.” Her voice was breaking with heavy emotion, bordering upon desperate.

“I know, but I am going to anyways,” Josie replied softly, no small amount of fear in her voice, but she held Hope’s gaze evenly. She was considerably surprised to find a small calloused hand lifting to cup her cheek, just as Burr arrived.

“Come back to us, Josie… to me.” Hope pushed up onto her tiptoes and leaned in to very gently press her lips against Josie’s. There was barely a featherlight touch until Josie pressed back, only taking a half-second before pushing away to go offer her wrists to Burr.

“Another volunteer? The almighty tribrid bullying you into this or are you too much of a coward to face the contents of your own twisted, inhuman minds?” His voice took on a sadistic tone as opposed to his usual boredom or anger. Lizzie stood on her strength and held the back of Hope’s shirt collar advancing on him.

“Josie… please.” Hope’s voice was shattered and the dark-haired witch knew she wouldn’t be able to look back. If she did, going with Burr would no longer be an option. Josie wouldn’t be able to leave Hope or ever let her go again.

“I love you, Josette Saltzman,” Lizzie called after her sister as Burr led her away. Tears streamed down her cheeks, matching Hope’s. She had never considered Hope Mikaelson a very close friend, but they had been through enough together the two girls were willing to fall apart in one another’s arms.

\------//////------

Josie walked the same path and experienced the same treatment Lizzie had described to them. Her breath caught in her chest like a heavyweight. Fear mixed with the flood of power from Hope’s blood in Josie’s veins leaving her hyper-aware of every sensation, sound, and surroundings. Josie was somewhat ashamed of how Hope’s kiss dominated her thoughts. Her mental health was on the verge of taking a real beating, her life and afterlife were at stake, but live life drama still took precedence.

As Hope’s blood burned in Josie’s veins and the taste of her blood roiled in Josie’s mouth, she somehow felt she would be able to get through this in one piece. Josie felt truly powerful… no dark magic required. She spits into Burr’s face as he moved to close the band of technology around her eyes and took the punch to her gut as though it were nothing; satisfaction glowing brightly within her chest. Josie sat back and waited for whatever fight was about to begin inside of herself.

When Josie’s eyes opened again, her face ached as though she had been severely sunburned beneath the band. She peeled the device away from her face. Her whole body ached. After everything that happened throughout the day, Josie couldn’t remember the last time they had eaten. Specifically herself. She also knew deep down in her gut, she needed to get to Hope as quickly as possible.

Josie slid down off of the contraption and found herself still feeling strong. She felt stronger, even. Capable of absolutely anything. This was an intoxicating feeling almost like drugs seemed on tv. Without siphoning, magic tingled at Josie’s fingertips, ready to use at her slightest call. Josie wondered if this was how other witches and Hope felt all of the time.

With a mere thought, no magical arcane words necessary, the fire flickered around her fingertips and across her hands. She gestured and the door flew back off of its’ hinge, taking three lab techs along with it. Josie stepped casually through and followed the path back towards the cell. Anyone who crossed her path was blown back against the wall, pinned and choked. Josie wasn’t sure if they survived the experience or not. She didn’t care.

Skulls caved beneath her power, organs squelched and concrete crumbled away to dust. Josie tore through everything that wasn’t Lizzie or Hope as though there was nothing but paper in her way. She didn’t stop until she had one of them in each arm, hugging them close. Josie squeezed and Hope met her eyes with a cry of pain and a glow of red light. Josie absorbed the other witches’ magic. They both disappeared into clouds of mist and dust… Josie felt nothing, just strength. Strength, this kind of power, beautiful and electric was all that mattered anymore. This was all Josie wanted or needed, everything that made Josie herself was gone now. Unnecessary. And all that remained was the beautiful magic and power.

There was no grief left, there were no emotions of any kind. Josie had gone cold and hard inside. The part of her that was still Josie, the real Josie, screamed inside; begged, pleaded, and cried until she faded away into nothing.

\-----/////-----

Josie’s breaths were deep and ragged, though once the needles were removed from her arms and the clasp was released from around her head, she realized that she felt physically intact, not weakened and haggard as Lizzie had been. As soon as possible, Josie wiped her cheeks clear of tears and pushed herself slowly up to seated, then up to her feet.

“The tribrid bitch… must have pumped her full of that muddied blood. The brain science-y part… did that work?” Burr asked, using the chain between the cuffs to pull Josie along. “She has healed completely.”

“Don’t call Hope that. We are going to get out of here eventually or someone is going to come for us and will _make_ you regret it. You made a mistake in showing me what I am truly capable of.” Josie’s voice didn’t return readily, but she could remember the way the power felt. She knew the possibility of going full dark, heretic Josie had always been there, but it felt more real than ever now.

Josie willingly walked back with Burr to the cell where Lizzie and Hope were still held He shoved her in towards them, but she managed to stay on her feet through Hope immediately rushed to support her. Josie leaned back into the touch, her mind still foggy. She couldn’t shake the mental image of having scattered her two favorite people in the world into clouds of dust… and not even regretting it. Josie dug her fingers into the back of Hope’s shirt.

“Enjoy this time. Once the tribrid bitch has had her turn in the machine, it’ll be the end of the line. I am so ready to rid the world of your filth.” He spat on the ground in front of their cell. Josie suppressed a low and very Hope-like growl.

“I have previously warned you about how you refer to her,” Josie spoke in her most dangerous voice. Her breaths seemed to come in short and angry pants, her fists balled at her sides as though ready for a fight.

Hope slid the palm of her hand down Josie’s arm and peeled Josie’s fingers open to hold Hope’s hand. She held on tightly. They were due for a long conversation once this was all over, especially about the kiss. Josie hadn’t seen that coming. Hope had been building up towards telling Josie how she felt about her, how she’d felt about her for a long time. 

“Let it go, Jo. We don’t have much time and I want as much time as I can get with you before whatever has to happen ends up happening. The way they speak to us is inconsequential in the face of everything else that might happen.” Hope tugged on Josie’s hand and clasped it tightly in her own. She found that her mind cleared a bit at the tightness of the hand around her own and she leaned into the feeling.

“What have I told the two of you… _so_ many times before? You are never _ever_ going to happen.” Lizzie insisted, propping an elbow each on their shoulders. “But I will allow a moment, just this one time, it’s gross as hell, so make it count.”

“I’m going to take her at her word.” Hope rounded on Josie as Lizzie turned her back to them, stuck her fingers in her ears, and started singing Yankee Doodle to herself. “Josie, I have loved you since I was fourteen years old, but shortly afterward… I lost my whole family and I knew I wouldn’t be able to take the rejection or… even your returned affections would have been too much for me.”

Josie’s jaw dropped at the sound of words she had always wanted to hear but never thought she would. Lizzie rolled her eyes and pretended to vomit.

“My heart was in hundreds of pieces then, but you and all of our friends… mostly you… helped me put them back together. Just, please promise me that you won’t ever forget me again.” Hope spoke to both of them with the last sentence. “I’m sorry to just dump all of this on you suddenly, but I couldn’t go without telling you.”

Josie ducked down to kiss Hope, this time with some depth to it, and Hope quickly found herself lost. She understood the part of Josie she had just witnessed and knew there was some similar kind of tendency to lean towards the darkness inside of herself. Hope hoped Josie understood that through her eyes, her mouth and her touch. Lizzie put herself in the corner, covered her ears and started singing again. Once Josie released Hope, she reached up to touch the taller girl’s face reverently and ran her fingers across the cheekbone then down her jawline. She crossed the cell and hugged Lizzie from behind; speaking too quietly for Josie to overhear.

Lizzie turned in Hope’s arms and hugged her tightly. Josie almost found it amusing that her blonder and taller twin nearly had to bend in half for the hug to take. Hope pushed up as tall onto her toes as she could and kissed Lizzie's forehead. Josie was pretty certain she could cry from the rush of feelings at the tender action. She sniffed and joined the hug, not wanting to waste a moment of the time they still had together. All of them knew she would need support for what was to come.

Burr came back sooner than any of them appreciated, but Hope stood as tall as she was able, her shoulders back and proud. She followed him through all of the preparations, her expression completely blank as though she wasn't present in her body at all.

In her mind, Hope was a little girl again, sitting across from her brother Marcel while he was trapped within a trap her father had set. He had once told her to close her eyes and sing. It was a lesson he had learned from their father. Hope treasured that moment more than she cared to admit… for all of its’ trauma. For all of his many issues (he was a Mikaelson at heart after all) Marcel had kind eyes. Little Hope had trusted him immediately on instinct.

Hope felt the velcro close around her wrists and knew she could rip right through the material. Hope suppressed her smile as much as she was able. The metal clicked across her eyes and Hope hesitated, just for a moment, wondering what her worst fear _truly_ was. Whatever happened to connect the technology to her innermost thoughts occurred before Hope could tear through her restraints.

She woke up and found herself in her bed at the Salvatore School. Her easel and paints missing from the space were the only noticeable differences. Hope slid out of her blankets, got changed, and about her day as usual. Quickly, she noticed a trend throughout her sparring match with the Saltzman family. She grew stronger and stronger until power seeped from her pores and the twins siphoned it. Josie noticed, turned and fled from her. Hope had no idea of how much that would hurt until it happened, but it was still a somewhat bearable pain. She had to wonder if a test like this would work on someone like her at all.

The day proceeded in the same manner. Hope would finally get close with someone and they would be afraid of her and her power, then run. Elsewise, Hope would accidentally kill them. Somehow, that wasn’t quite as terrible. Hope drew the line when in the distance she heard the angry and very British voice of her father.

Hope laid back on a table, closed her eyes and focused on the song playing in the back of her mind. She leaned into the song, into the sound of her father’s voice, the memory of Marcel’s kind eyes, and the sense of safety that permeated a room as soon as Hayley Marshall entered it. Her fingers clenched into fists in this world and the real one. Right now it seemed as though she wore her school uniform. Hope felt along her hand until she felt the piece of cloth on her wrist from Josie’s shirt where she had drunk from Hope’s wrist. She leaned into the feeling and memory of Josie’s drinking from her.

Hope threw her arms up and sliced right through her bonds, reached up and tore the blinder off of her eyes. Her face ached with burning pain as Lizzie and Josie had described it, but with the added downside of not being able to see. Hope’s sense of smell guided her through the onslaught that immediately fell upon her. She heard the cries of pain and felt the blood run down her hands from her claws tearing and across her chin to her neck from powerful jaws cleaving Triad throats. Hope saved Burr for last and dragged him behind her to find her friends.

Lizzie and Josie huddled together in the cell, awaiting Hope’s return. She seemed to be taking much longer than either of the twins had. Lizzie kept attempting to convince Josie that it was a good thing, but couldn’t get her sister to stop crying. The only thing that perked her up was the encroaching sounds of a pitched battle. Lizzie expected a rescue party; possibly even the remnants of the Super Squad. Josie knew, deep down in her gut, Hope was coming for her.

A large male form hit the ground in front of their cell, groaning in pain, followed shortly thereafter by a half-shifted Hope Mikaelson. Her unseeing eyes glowed a bright, golden yellow. Her teeth were bared like fangs and her fingers extended into large, deadly claws. The white uniform Triad had forced her to change into was stained red down the chest and across the shoulders. Josie and Lizzie hardly recognized their friend as Lizzie rushed to pull the keys from his belt and unlock their cell door. She remained a wary handful of feet away from Hope.

Josie bypassed her sister completely to walk straight up to Hope, scenting the air around her before visibly relaxing, content with whatever she had found. Josie mimicked Hope in running her hand along the smaller girl’s face, realizing as Hope stared into the distance that she wasn’t seeing anything. “Hey, Balto, can you find us a way out of here? I don't want us to miss Christmas.” Lizzie called from where she was kneeling and looting Burr’s body.

Hope’s claws began to retract and her eyes faded from golden to ocean blue once more. She cleared her throat, voice hoarse when she spoke. “Yeah, I can smell fresh air coming from somewhere East. If we follow the source, we should find our escape and figure out getting home from there, but first I want to burn this place to the ground.”

“Agreed.” the twins replied simultaneously and each grasped one of Hope’s newly human hands as they marched through the Triad building and towards their freedom.


End file.
